Editing Hebrew calendar (section)

===Past methods of dividing years===
According to some Christian and [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]] sources, the tradition in ancient Israel was that 1 Nisan would not start until the barley is ripe, being the test for the onset of spring.{{efn|The barley had to be "eared out" (ripe) in order to have a wave-sheaf offering of the first fruits according to the Law.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Secrets of Time |last=Jones |first=Stephen |date=1996}}</ref>}} If the barley was not ripe, an intercalary month would be added before Nisan.

In the 1st century, [[Josephus]] stated that while –
<blockquote>Moses...appointed Nisan...as the first month for the festivals...the commencement of the year for everything relating to divine worship, but for selling and buying and other ordinary affairs he preserved the ancient order [i. e. the year beginning with Tishrei]."<ref name="Josephus, 1930">Josephus, ''Antiquities'' 1.81, Loeb Classical Library, 1930.</ref></blockquote>

[[Edwin Thiele]] concluded that the ancient northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] counted years using the ecclesiastical new year starting on 1 Aviv/Nisan ([[Nisan-years]]), while the southern [[Kingdom of Judah]] counted years using the civil new year starting on 1 Tishrei ([[Tishri-years]]).<ref name="Thiele">Edwin Thiele, ''[[The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings]]'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). {{ISBN|0-8254-3825-X}}, 9780825438257</ref> The practice of the Kingdom of Israel was also that of [[Babylonian calendar|Babylon]],<ref>''The Chronology of the Old Testament'', 16th ed., Floyd Nolan Jones, {{ISBN|978-0-89051-416-0}}, pp. 118–123</ref> as well as other countries of the region.<ref name="DeVaux"/> The practice of Judah is continued in modern Judaism and is celebrated as [[Rosh Hashana]].